The failure of the two referendums in France and the Netherlands may have left pro-European campaigners with oeuf and ei on their faces, but they have been proved right about one thing at least.

The consequences of a Yes vote were clear, they said. The move towards a democratic European Union continues. And if there is a No vote, chaos follows. Nobody has a clue what happens next.

The Yes campaign’s predictions of victory may have been awry, but they were right about the aftermath of failure. No-one knows what to do now. The summit meeting next week will have to try to pick up the pieces. Can the ratification process continue? Can the Irish and the Poles hold their referendums? Must the British do the same?

In the face of all this uncertainty, let me make a concrete suggestion. Let’s take some good things from the European constitution and make them happen anyway.